onsciousness
is the major unsolved problem in biology. How do the elemental feelings
and sensations making up conscious experience, the redness of red and
painfulness of pain, arise from the concerted actions of nerve cells
and their associated synaptic and molecular processes? Can such feelings
be explained by modern science, or is some quite different kind of explanation
needed? And how can this seemingly intractable problem be approached
experimentally? Designed as an introduction to the field and drawing
upon anatomical, physiological, clinical and psychological observations,
this book seeks answers to these questions within a neurobiological
framework; that is, how do the operations of the conscious mind emerge
out of the specific interactions of myriads of neurons.
"Christof
Koch has written a superb introduction to the modern exploration of
the biology of consciousness, based on his collaborative work with Francis
Crick. The Quest for Consciousness is an extraordinarily well-written
book that outlines in clear terms the key issues that the biology of
the mind will be confronting in the next several decades. The book is
a must for both the general reader as well as for scientists in the
field."
---
Eric Kandel, Author of Principles of Neural Science and winner
of the 2000 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine
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"The
quest for consciousness has been the great intellectual adventure
of recent years, as neurobiology has started to close in on its
ultimate goal, to define the neural basis of human consciousness.
Christof Koch, in intimate collaboration with Francis Crick, has
been one of the major pioneers in this quest, and in this new book
he offers a vivid, brilliant and very personal account of how our
understanding has developed in the last twenty years, moving from
the basic processes of visual perception to the highest reaches
of consciousness. He unfolds a new, dynamic vision of the brain,
based on experimental findings, clinical observations, and neural
modelling, in which coalitions of nerve cells form, dissolve and
reform continually, weaving our ever-changing but integral sense
of consciousness.The Quest for Consciousness is not only
a mine of information, and full of provocative thoughts and insights,
but a delight to read and ponder." |
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